September 22, 2019
Presenter: Mark S. Smith
Ancient Israel's unique notions of God drew on non-Israelite material from two related sources. First, Israel arose out of a Canaanite cultural matrix that has been well studied over the past century. Second, during its heyday, ancient Israel maintained continuous cultural, economic and political interactions with Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syrian states to the north. The culture of these places influenced the development of Israelite religious thought at every point. Professor Smith focuses specifically on the ways such interactions helped lead to Israel's understanding of God.
This public lecture was part of the scholarly conference, The Spirit of Scholarship: Biblical and Mesopotamian Studies in the Roman Catholic Academy.
Cosponsored by the Boston College Department of Theology, School of Theology and Ministry, the Boston College Institute for Liberal Arts, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and the Catholic Biblical Association of America